.| UrbanNerd |.

This is a very interesting article, and I can’t help but thinking I am missing a few pieces of information. The Chinese government in various urban cities has been banning scooters and using environmental issues as the reason. As fast as manufacturers can comply with new regulations the cities change them. I would like very much to know why. Below are some quotes, find the article here.

Stefano Pitti felt like he was king in the early 1990s, when he sold 150,000 units of his company’s mopeds at 10,000 yuan (US$1,233) apiece in his first two years after arriving in Shanghai. But the rules changed and so did the world of Pitti, China representative for Piaggio, the Italian scooter manufacturer of famous brands such as Vespa. “They (the Shanghai government) suddenly slapped a ban on motorcycles and our sales nose-dived to zero almost overnight,” recalls Pitti. “Needless to say, we were devastated.”
The Shanghai government’s move was followed in one way or another by the authorities in other major cities. Instead of a total ban, some cities raised road taxes to discourage the use of motorcycles, mopeds and other two-wheel vehicles. And they did it under environmental protection regulations, saying that motorcycles had failed to meet their new emission control standards.
But instead of throwing in the towel and pulling out of the market, Pitti convinced Piaggio headquarters to raise its stake by entering into a joint venture with a domestic manufacturer. The plan was to develop a new model that could push Piaggio into the rural market, where motorcycles are still in demand and pollution controls are less of an issue than in the concrete jungles of the cities.